Contract - No Contract

[psychocandy]

'Revenge' of the contractor....

Just had a little chat with an agent who told me a contractor had failed to turn up to a very well known client not once, but twice.

We complain bitterly about clients messing us about and cancelling gigs but you seriously have to wonder about the sanity of a contractor who would mess a client about like that.

Yeh I seen that too. Previous client. Nicest people you could work for. No hassle lots of flexibility. Cracking place.
New guy pulled sickie in first week for a day or two, then 2nd week, then just started not turning up randomly. Client was good as gold and was nice to the guy but in the end he just took the p*ss.

[billybiro]

There are strong disagreements on CUK - however personally I always feel you should throw a sickie and start the new gig asap. It is not really moral - however you have to look after number one.

WTF does morality have to do with it? This is business. Unless you've done something that directly contravenes your contract then anything goes - even then it's not immoral but a contractual/legal issue. All this talk of "morality" is utter nonsense. You think a client has a "moral" guilt trip when they tell you to either take a rate cut or walk?

Given the OP's situation, I agree about the "sickie" which seems the easiest and quickest way to get himself into the new role (which is the role you now have "loyalty" to in a business sense since it's this new role that provides your income from now on, not the old one).

I'd wager that the agent's statement of "Project on hold, there is now no requirement" actually meant:
"The client initially and reluctantly agreed to wait for you for 3 weeks when there was no one else available, however, we've now found someone who can start when the client actually wants them to start so we no longer require you."

A deliciously ironic display of the client's/agent's "morality" with regard to agreeing a contract with you only to pull it away from under your nose.

[Yonmons]

I'd wager that the agent's statement of "Project on hold, there is now no requirement" actually meant:
"The client initially and reluctantly agreed to wait for you for 3 weeks when there was no one else available, however, we've now found someone who can start when the client actually wants them to start so we no longer require you."

A deliciously ironic display of the client's/agent's "morality" with regard to agreeing a contract with you only to pull it away from under your nose.

Yep !